Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders What diameter RB are you using in your TC .54 side locks?

I've always shot conicals in my 1980s era .54 cal TC Renegade. The 50 yd groups are reliably 2-2.5". The earlier thread on .54 cal side locks shooting patched RBs got me interested in trying them for smaller groups. I have both .530 (CVA) and .535 RBs (Hornady). However, even the .530 RB is hard to ram down the bore with 0.012" 1:7 Ballistol lubed, dry patches. A following shot requires a very through swabbing out of the bore or the PB will get stuck midway. Recovered fired patches show ripped away sections of the bore riding sections so I don't think I can go to a thinner patch. Track of the Wolf has .526" diameter RBs that I can try. Curious as to what other TC owners have experienced in this regard.

I have a T/C Hawken .54 I bought like new several years ago. Went .54 because I like to shoot patched ball and wanted lots of lead in a PRB for deer hunting being that a ‘ball’ is as light as it can get if you don’t count sabot pistol bullets.
Following your post. I’ve purchased a few different lead ball sizes but have yet to shoot this .54 yet!
What experience I have has been with 45 and 50 cal rifles.

T/C in my experience have very uniform bore dimensions, I'd be amazed if your's was any different and required a smaller ball. Now, I'm going to throw some stuff out there that you will not like or may seem counter intuitive, I'm not trying to piss you off, I'm trying to help. First, I hope you are using black powder, not some pyrodex or modern formulation. I hope you are using 3F, most people use 2F and it works...but it burns dirty, has higher velocity deviations and is more sensitive to ramrod loading pressure. I hope that you are using fairly mild charges, I strongly recommend starting around 60 gr of 3F (you can stoke it up later if need be). Patch material...dig into your wife's sewing scraps and dig out a variety of thicknesses to test, do not charge the rifle, don't cut the material, at this point you are just fitting ball and patch combo to bbl dimensions and you will only shove the patched ball flush with the muzzle and use the excess material to retrieve the ball. Just use saliva for the fit test. Try to find a thickness of material that is just borderline thumb start but not so tight you need a short starter. Measure and record that thickness. Your patch material should be 100% cotton of the thickness you recorded. Now, patch lube, very controversial, but I will give you the most valuable roundball muzzleloading tip...never use anything but animal fats in the bore, nipple or pan area that is exposed to black powder flame. Ballistol is a mineral oil compound with a high ph factor. Rendered animal fat or Murphy's Oil soap in a water or alcohol emulsion(veg oil wood cleaner) or commercial grease like 1000+. Soluble cutting oils contain chlorine, I avoid them. Begin fire testing, read your fired patches, if you are still shredding patches, there is likely a rough spot in the bore. Last remark, TC generally is 1:48" so I would lean toward a little tighter patch/ball fit. (1:66 and 1:72 can be thumb started and seated in one smooth push, not much more than 10-15 pounds). It should never be so snug that it requires the ramrod to be 'bounced', which deforms the ball and ravels the patch.

Flintlocke,

Thank you for responding. The advice offered is very much appreciated. I mostly used TTT when I shot conicals but for the PRBs sessions, I went with 90gr 3Fg Goex. Ignition was with RWS musket caps. Between shots, the bore was swabbed with wet patches of Windex powered w/ vinegar ( a BP shooting tip from Mike Venturino) and enough dry patches to dry the bore. The 0.012" patch material was 100% cotton muslin that had been previously washed clean of any sizing. Patch lube was 1:7 Ballistol/water. Patch material was saturated with the lube and allowed to air dry on a flat screen.

The ripped patches along with the difficulty in ramming the PRB down the bore suggested that the patch lube I used might be a problem. I'll try your suggested patch lubes to see if that does not improve the reloading process. The suggestion of starting with a smaller charge of BP is, if nothing else, timely. With Goex's future in limbo, my inventory will last just a bit longer if I reduce the BP load to the minimum that will do the job it needs to.

Repeated shooting as in competition, in warm low humidity weather, is one true test of patch lube. In theory, the downstroke of the wet reloaded patch and ball, cleans the bore for each successive shot...this is where home concoctions of Murphy's oil soap/water/alcohol, whatever, really perform. Several guys I compete with have gone to a household cleaner "Simple Green" 20% green/80% water, and are happy with the results. We often shoot timed events, in as rapid fire as you can with a muzzleloader, and if a gun is going to foul and become difficult to load....you are pretty much toast, and your team will treat you like the red headed stepchild. In a hunting situation, where the gun may be loaded for days without firing, grease patches of course, rule.
Accuracy? I have had guys frequently put 5 in 1 1/4" at 50 yds under ideal conditions. I know of a Browning .54 with a Sharon barrel that has gotten 5 shots touching at 100 yds, more than once. When a guy brings me a gun (got a well equipped range in my yard) for help developing a load, in spite of his protests, I start a .54 at 60 grs and shoot groups increasing 5 gr increments until it starts to open up. Accuracy trumps velocity...a 224 grain ball with a frontal area of over .54 is a reliable no drama killer.
You sound like a pretty savvy shooter...just pay attention to the little details which will make 'good enuff' into great.

I shot RB in a few .50 cal TCs.
Always swaged .495 w a pillow tick patch (fabric store, buy the thicker one by the yard).
Spit patch on the range, veg oil if put in quickloader hunting.

No probs w bad patch or accuracy.

100gr FFg

Only issue was w one TC and that POS had QLA.

.530 and .010 patch